Tagged: NH House

It's the time of year when the statehouse gets hectic - and, occasionally, foul-tempered.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted today to pass a bill that would allow the city of Manchester to ask for a moratorium on refugee resettlement.

The bill is a seen as a victory for Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, who has been calling for a moratorium since last July.

Manchester Representative Phil Greazzo, a Republican, says the resettlement agency is not doing a good job helping refugees integrate, and the city’s social services are overwhelmed.

The New Hampshire House has moved to reconsider passage of a controversial bill requiring pregnant women to wait 24 hours before receiving an abortion. The bill would also require them to receive explicit information on fetal development.

The bill was sent back to committee because it contains criminal penalties but was not reviewed by the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee as required by House Rules. 

Both Democrat and Republican House leaders supported the move. 

 The New Hampshire House of Representatives has for the second time passed a so-called right to work bill. But  the margin was well short of what would be needed to override Governor Lynch’s promised veto.

Barring unions from requiring non-members to pay for representation has been a priority for House Republican leaders. Last year governor John Lynch vetoed a Right-to-Work bill, which republicans failed to override.

Republican Marshall Quandt told colleagues this year’s version will fare no better.

"Every one of us is wasting valuable time and energy on this bill. Einstein once said the definition of insanity is to keep doin’ the same experiment and expect different results," Quandt says.

The New Hampshire House has passed a bill giving lawmakers final say on collective bargaining agreements with the State. The legislation is just the latest effort by Republicans in Concord to rein in the costs of public employee contracts.

"This gives the legislature the ability to look at an entire contract and say whether it is fair, and whether we should fund it," says Republican Neil Kurk of Weare.

Collective bargaining contracts with the State have historically been the responsibility of the Executive Branch.  Opponents of the measure say putting the legislature in the middle of the eight different contracts that the State negotiates with employees will muddy the process.

A bill requiring New Hampshire students to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance passed a house committee today.

"Standing is a sign of national patriotism," says Republican Representative Lawrence Kappler.

Current law permits students to remain seated, as long as they are silent and respectful. The constitutionality of the bill is in question, however. Representative Gary Richardson believes that requiring someone to stand is clearly an issue of free speech. 

"I'm not happy with that position, but that is what the constitution requires," says the Democrat from Hopkinton.

The New Hampshire house voted today to repeal the Emergency Powers Act, which allows the government to take private property during a declared state of emergency.

The bill’s supporters call the Emergency Powers Act a government overreach.

Representative Brandon Giuda spoke in favor of the repeal saying, "We now have a large government agency that came out of 9/11, but if that agency doesn’t properly plan with all the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are going to it, it can come to your house and take things from you."

The state House of Representatives has passed a bill that would ban the use of GPS devices to secretly track people. The bill would make such tracking illegal someone without a court order.

This was a bill that seemed destined to disappear: in committee it was voted 14 – 0 to refer it for more study. With an election coming up, that would almost certainly mean that the bill would never be seen again.

But the bill’s sponsor, representative Neal Kurk from Weare, pulled it back from the brink. He opened his comments with a cautionary tale about a jealous boyfriend tracking his ex.

The 251 to 101 vote exceeds the 3/5th needed to send the proposal on to the state senate. Prior to the vote, Manchester Republican Keith Murphy warned that while the income tax isn’t popular in Concord right now, that could change.

“Lest we forget in 1999 this body did pass an income tax of 4 percent, and every year since an income tax has been proposed in this body. We need to take the temptation off the table now and forever.”

 Opponents of the proposal say permanently barring new taxes on income could lead to unintended consequences, like higher property and business taxes. To take effect the amendment needs 3/5ths support in the senate and 2/3rds support at the polls in November.